


Neighbors

by CasBruell



Series: President Garon Oneshots [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Swearing, Storms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 20:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11321349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasBruell/pseuds/CasBruell
Summary: Ryoma and Corrin are neighbors in an apartment complex. There's a storm, they lose power, Corrin gets scared. Just cuddling.





	Neighbors

 

It was around eight in the evening when the storm began. It started innocently enough with an increasingly forceful downpour of rain, common to their location. Soon after the winds picked up exponentially and bent the trees as they were pushed and pulled and whipped this way and that way. Following the howling breeze came the loud, booming cracks of thunder, and the occasional flash of lightning as it tore the clouds and illuminated the darkened apartment building.

Ryoma's apartment had lost power when the winds kicked up, as did every living space in the building. He was not alarmed, however; he quite liked the sound of rolling thunder and the consistent patter of the rain against the ground outside. He calmly lit candles around his apartment so that he wouldn't be stumbling about in the dark and sat down on his sofa to do some reading before bed.

By the time 10:00 rolled around he had finished four or five chapters in his book, and just when he put it down for the night, he heard someone rap their knuckles against his front door beside the kitchen.

Ryoma was taken aback that anybody would be coming to his apartment as such a late hour, especially in the middle of a storm. He climbed to his feet and abandoned the book on his coffee table and approached the door semi-cautiously.

He unlocked the door and pulled it open. He was even more surprised to find a slightly shorter man standing in the hallway, a blanket pulled around himself and a flashlight in hand. Ryoma recognized him easily; it was Corrin, a recent addition to the apartment building who Ryoma had talked to a few times in the past.

"Oh, Corrin," he smiled kindly. "good evening."

"Hey," said man replied a bit tensely, "yeah, sure, great evening, I guess. Shit weather, though."

Ryoma just chuckled. He wasn't disturbed by his cursing, having a younger sister himself who had the vocabulary of a well-educated sailor. "Indeed." He agreed.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

Corrin visibly shifted a little, the blanket hood falling from his head to reveal his messy, tousled cream hair. "Er... well, you see, there's no power at my place..." He bit his cheek. "...and now my dumb ass just realized that you wouldn't have power, either..."

Ryoma cocked an eyebrow. He was about to ask what he needed but when Corrin jumped and pulled the blanket around himself more in response to a particularly loud crack of thunder, complete with a tight squeeze of his eyes, the brunette's warm smile returned. He understood.

"Would you like to come inside, Corrin?"

Still shaken up, the younger nodded, and Ryoma stood by for him to enter his candle-lit apartment.

"Sorry," he apologized meekly, "you were probably about to go to bed, huh?"

"Not at all." Ryoma lead him to the living room and sat down, patting the spot beside him for Corrin to do the same. "I was just doing some reading, is all."

Corrin sat down beside Ryoma and placed his flashlight on the coffee table next to said book. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Ryoma knew better than to ask about his fear of storms, he didn't wish to make his guest uncomfortable. So he crossed his legs and leaned back against the couch.

"Do you have a family, Corrin?" He asked, hoping it would help clear the atmosphere.

The European bit his lip at the question and turned to face Ryoma, sitting back against the arm of the sofa and pulling his knees in with the blanket wrapped around him.

"I don't have a partner or anything, but I have a kind of messy home life."

"I'd love to hear about it."

"Well... where do I start..." Corrin carded his fingers through his hair.

The European went on to describe a family that could only belong on an edgy soap opera. A father that's a politician, an absent mother, a childhood in literal isolation, and a messy coming-out that didn't end well at all.

When he finished his story, he sat there, looking at Ryoma expectantly, as if he anticipated some kind of judgement. But Ryoma didn't judge; he just nodded intently and offered a smile.

"Well, that's certainly one way to live your life." He said humorously.

Corrin laughed just a little in response and a calm quiet fell over the two of them.

Ryoma utilized the silence to study the young man in front of him. Corrin had had a difficult past, and he trusted Ryoma to know almost every detail of it. Something about him made Ryoma want to protect him. Perhaps it was his brotherly instincts, being the eldest of four, but it was also something more than that that he couldn't put his finger on. Corrin just felt... familiar to him.

When a boom of lightning and a crash of thunder shattered the silence, however, and Corrin shrunk considerably in fear, Ryoma no longer fought the urge to lean over, take the boy by the shoulders, and pulled him in against his broad, muscular chest to comfort him.

He stroked Corrin's back as the younger grasped his blanket and made no move to pull away. Quite the opposite, in fact; he relaxed into Ryoma's arms, as if it was all he's ever wanted in coming to his apartment in the dead of night.

Ryoma leaned and rested on his back on the couch, and Corrin snuggled up on his chest with Ryoma's arms around his back securely.

"It's okay," Ryoma cooed quietly, "I'm here."

"You're here," corrin echoed effortlessly.

For the rest of the night, when Corrin was scared of a violent flash or a thundrous boom, Ryoma simply toyed with his long, silky hair and hummed soothingly. Corrin was the first to drift off into a light sleep on his neighbor, and Ryoma didn't let his own eyes close until he was sure that Corrin was far away from the storm outside.


End file.
